Jeff Ruby

Opticare Vision

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Highlands seeks history in 4A title game

Photo by G. Michael Graham/Fort Thomas Matters. The 2012 Highlands Bluebirds football team will be looking to add to the legacy on Friday against the Collins Titans. Game time is 8 p.m. EST at Western Kentucky University's Houchens/L.T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

It was not
until recently that the Highlands Bluebirds football team heard about the
Collins Titans.

That’s
because the Titans (11-3) broke off from Shelby County in 2010. Collins is the
last team standing in the way of history for Highlands. Class 4A’s top-ranked
Bluebirds (13-1) will take the field in search of a Kentucky record sixth
consecutive state championship Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time at
Western Kentucky University’s Houchens/L.T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green.

A win would
give Highlands its 22nd state championship overall. The Bluebirds enter the
game with an overall record of 841-225-26 since starting their program in 1915.
That win total is good for second in the country behind just Valdosta (Ga.)
with 876 victories since 1913.

Collins is
33-8 in its brief three-year history with three district championships. The
Titans have advanced one round deeper into the playoffs each year having faced
Louisville Western in three consecutive Region 2 championships. The Titans lost
to the Warriors in 2010 by a 31-26 count before edging Western, 13-12 last year
and 36-20 this year. Head Coach Jerry Lucas has led the building process for
the Titans.

“(Lucas) is doing a great job,” said Dale Mueller, Highlands co-head coach. “Those are guys that were playing football
at their previous schools. Those are some experienced football players who are
serious about it. You can see that.”

Collins
lost to 2011 runner-up Franklin-Simpson, 20-15 in the state semifinals last
year. But the Titans came back to beat undefeated and third-ranked Warren East,
58-7 in the semifinals Friday.

“It was a neat experience for myself, our coaching
staff and our kids to start a program and build it from the ground up,” Lucas said. “We
have a beautiful school, great facilities and terrific kids. Shelbyville is a
great town to live and raise a family. Our kids believe in our school and our
program and it’s been fun being part of building the tradition at Collin High
School.”

Aside from
history, depth could factor into this contest. The Bluebirds dress more than 90
players and have no one playing on both offense and defense while the Titans
dress about 50 and have several players going both directions. Highlands tends
to wear down teams that have players going both ways.

“We are certainly honored to not only be making our
first state appearance but excited to be playing a team with the history of
excellence such as Highlands,” Lucas
said. “We understand what we are up
against playing a team like that has great players on both sides of the ball
and knowing that they only play their kids on one side. At this point in the
season, we just have to go out and play and let it all hang out.”

Highlands
also played the tougher schedule having to go through ranked Ashland Blazer,
Covington Catholic and Lexington Catholic to get to this point. The only ranked
team Collins faced on its way to the state championship was Warren East. The
first five Highlands opponents made it to the third round of the playoffs. One
made it to the 6A state semifinals in Scott County, where it fell 21-14 to
Louisville Trinity in the last minute.

Collins
finished 2-2 6A competition in the regular season beating 7-5 Meade County
(21-14) and 5-7 Oldham County (28-14) and losing to 11-3 6A semifinalist
Louisville Eastern (41-29) and 6-5 Lexington Bryan Station (55-52). Aside from
Louisville Western, the other common opponent is Boyle County. The Rebels beat
the Titans, 49-26 in Danville eight days after Highlands rallied past Boyle
County, 52-31 on Aug. 17 to open the season.

“It’s just great experience for guys playing in big
games,” Mueller said. “That’s why we schedule the teams we do. It
helps us get focused for this game.”

Junior
quarterback Lawson Page completed 14-of-18 passes for 260 yards and two
touchdowns against Warren East. Like Highlands senior quarterback Donovan
McCoy, Page wears number one and is a dual-threat out of Collins’ spread
offense that mixes in some Power-I formations. Page has completed 185-of-346
passes for 2,825 yards, 36 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Page has also run
the ball 155 times for 730 yards and five touchdowns for an average of 4.7 a
carry.

“We’re going to try to keep (Page) inside the pocket
and in front of us like we try to do with Donovan in practice,” said Nathan Merkle, Highlands junior defensive
lineman. “If he gets outside the pocket,
he can just run all over the field then he can throw it downfield to a wide
receiver or take it to the house.”

Junior
running back Deandre Farris is a threat to catch and run the ball. He leads the
Titans with 128 rushes for 937 yards and 17 touchdowns for an average of 7.32
per carry. Farris also has 60 catches for 974 yards and 13 touchdowns. Junior
wide receiver Nathan Sames leads Collins with 62 catches for 994 yards and 16
touchdowns.

Collins has
outscored the opposition, 562-349 for an average of about 40.1-25 a contest.
Highlands has outscored its 14 opponents, 734-272 for an average of about
52.4-19.4. Collins has rushed for 2,681 yards and passed for 2,825.

The
Bluebirds play a 3-4 scheme defensively. They’ve allowed 2,584 yards rushing
and 1,272 passing. Senior Quentin Murray leads Highlands with five
interceptions and brother Brady Murray, a sophomore linebacker, leads the way
with two fumble recoveries. Reid Schroeder leads Highlands with eight tackles
for a loss. Thomas Wrobleski leads the Bluebirds with 7.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles
for a loss. Seth Hope follows with 6.5 sacks.

The
Highlands offense has rushed for 3,696 yards and passed for 3,252 more. The
Bluebirds have also scored 104 touchdowns this year. McCoy leads the way with
1,039 yards rushing on 148 carries and 20 touchdowns for an average of about
seven a carry. McCoy has also completed 159-of-252 passes for 2,616 yards, 30
touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Five
Bluebirds have rushed for at least 430 yards. Junior Zach Harris follows McCoy
with 130 carries for 905 yards and 18 touchdowns for an average of about seven
a carry.

Highlands
has 12 wide receivers with at least nine catches. Senior Luke Turner leads the
way with 38 receptions for 795 yards and seven touchdowns. Junior Luke Brockett
has 21 catches for 358 yards and four touchdowns. The Bluebirds catch the ball
all over the field making life tough for defenses.

“We can beat (opponents) either way,” said Ryan Greene, Highlands junior wide receiver. “If they’re playing up, we can hit them
deep. If they’re playing deep, we’ll hit them short. We have a bunch of guys
who think about the team more than themselves. I think that’s why we win a lot
of games.”

The
Bluebirds have won the state championship in 10-of-12 appearances in the title
game since Mueller came on staff in 1994. The only years they finished
runner-up were 1995 losing 28-12 to Bowling Green and 2003 falling 44-10 to
Boyle County.